While there are no universally accepted definitions of what makes a compliance program effective, and there is no one metric for evaluating effectiveness, there are certain pillars of an effective compliance program that include sound design and execution, timely and proactive responses to compliance issues, and readiness for regulatory change. Let's take a deeper look at those pillars.

When it comes to ethics and compliance messages being heard, absorbed and acted on, timing is everything. The time at which we ask employees to attest to a policy may determine if the standards in that policy are followed. The strategic moments at which we encourage honesty can directly impact the immediate decision making choices that follow. Timing can be everything, so let’s discuss how to make the most of our time.

Companies jumping into “the big world” for the first time – foreign markets, new product lines, new divisions gained through acquisition – will sink or swim depending on how they handle the new breed of compliance challenges. Without proper planning to manage policy and to align compliance objectives to corporate strategy, growing companies can face some major setback. What kinds of planning and alignment help corporate ethics programs the most, before expansion phases spin out of control?

We've seen a salvo of standards and regulations across the globe offering guidance on how to develop effective ethics and compliance programmes. With no single standard or regulation that suits all situations or organisations, we are faced with Compliance’s age-old question – how do we define “effectiveness?” Let's discuss what measure to use to define your programme's effectiveness.

Asking questions isn’t always enough – they have to be the right questions. Asking questions in the right way, helps us formulate our answers in the right way. The right questions, and therefore the right answers, can help organizations promote compliance and ethics, shape perceptions and drive valuable feedback for compliance programs to plan around.

Trust – it’s the glue that holds our organizational siloes together, makes our companies quicker and more nimble, and enables us to react faster and with more efficiency than our competitors. On this we can learn a lot from an unlikely source – military strategy.

According to the 644 respondents of our 2016 survey, the number one objective of training programs is to “create a culture of ethics and respect.” Ok, now what? Let’s take a look at what that means to us as compliance professionals and what that looks like to our employees.

Technology is bringing us into a whole new world for compliance effectiveness and efficiency. The biggest benefits are in the form of automation and it is making major impacts in critical areas of compliance programs. Here are four key areas in which automation is putting the “e” in ethics is a very meaningful way.

No matter how proficient a compliance professional you may be, the deck is stacked against you if you are not automating your ethics and compliance program. Where could you benefit from automation? Policy creation and management? Incident reporting and management? Tracking and managing your third party risk? Achieve your full program potential through effective automation.

Share

Pages

About the Blog

The top minds in ethics & compliance

Ethics & Compliance Matters™, the official blog of NAVEX Global. Leverage the news, insights and best practices you find here to stay ahead of GRC trends, and take your compliance program to the next level.